Federal Judge Grants Defendants' Motion to Stay; Decision to Transfer to MDL Pending

NEW ORLEANS - A federal judge ruled a Louisiana man's case against the manufacturers of a PPA-containing products should stay in the U.S. District Court of Louisiana pending a decision to transfer the suit to Judicial Panel on Multi-district litigation. Hookfin v. Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corp., et al., No. 02-742 (E. D. La.)

U.S. District Judge Sarah Vance's decision on May 13 stated the case would benefit from the consistency and efficiency of pre-trial rulings already rendered in the MDL in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington. Vance's ruling also concurred with the defendants' argument that a …